Saucy, Spicy, Stupendous

by Emily

I’m late on this post but we had too many wonderful things last week not to share! Mostly lots of very (very, very, very) good restaurant meals. Three different days I got to take a super-long city walk (including a Central Park date with the husband!). Highlights include…

Coffees with brown sugar syrup.

A tamarind Americano from Le Phin.

Breakfast at Ursula. We shared a strawberry chamoy pastry.

And a sopaipilla with grassfed beef, green chile, refried pinto beans, and cheddar.

Breakfast at the Blue Light Speaky Cheesy pop-up. The workers could not have been more wonderful here and everything was fantastic! We shared a sandwich with pesto scrambled eggs, goat cheese, blueberry jam, and arugula; a maple lavender latte (<– topped with orange zest, which apparently is my new favorite thing); and an iced Getaway Latte with sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Malted berry smoothie. Frozen cherries and strawberries with Greek yogurt, chocolate almond milk, and malted milk powder.

Yogurt bowl – vanilla skyr, pecan granola, chia seeds, blueberries, and cherry plums (<– both Adam’s and my new favorite fruit).

Cookie dough granola (<– amazing, the flavor is spot on!) with blueberries and chocolate almond milk.

Lunch at Bahn (<– best meal of the whole week!). Iced Vietnamese egg coffee.

Summer rolls with shrimp and mung bean sauce.

Rolls with crispy shrimp, beef jerky, green mango, Sriracha, and egg yolk cream.

Noodle salad with sizzling butter beef.

Dumplings from Mimi Cheng. Their monthly special is a collab with Pecking House and is stuffed with buttermilk twice-fried chicken and topped with the best chili crisp I’ve ever tasted.

Homemade(!) grain bowls. Farro with pesto, chicken pesto sausage, fennel greens, and sauteed celery and baby orange tomatoes.

Adam forgot his credit card at BKNY Thai so we went back sooner than we were expecting to. A serendipitous mistake because our take-out was 11/10. Fish cakes / dumplings with ground chicken, shallot, peanut, and preserved radish / beef Pad See Ew with extra Chinese broccoli.

Omekase at the Chemisty Room at Sushi Lab. We ate at the counter and the service was impecable. I only took a few photos but everything was delicious and gorgeous.

Dinner at Wen Wen. My daiquiri with rum, Cachaça, and birds eye chili was perfect and balanced.

We had numbing celtuce salad with garlic, red vinegar, and Sichuan pepper.

Hot honey popcorn chicken.

Cold sesame noodles with cucumbers and egg ribbons.

Beef noodle soup with pickled mustard greens and a 16-hour oxtail broth.

8Aug2022

Best Of

by Emily

We had crazy work-weekends but did manage to have a lot of fun in our evenings – exploring some new-to-us restaurants in Long Island and Queens and getting some great treats. Our favorite dish from each stop was…

BKNY Thai – Pad Kee Mao with beef.

Mochinut – pineapple guava mochi doughnut.

Mr. Pollo – Raspada, shaved ice with raspberry, passionfruit, and tons of condensed milk.

O Mandarin – Emperor’s Cabbage with sesame paste, aged vinaigrette, and honey.

Yedang – Dango (chewy sweetened rice cakes).

5Aug2022

Take Me Out

by Emily

I work all this weekend but we do have some fun Long Island dinners planned. Highlights from this past week included – lots of take-out and homecooked meals better suited for fall!

Smoothie time – plain Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, chocolate almond milk, and taro powder.

I made beer bread, which meant I spent the week very happily snacking on beer bread with cheese.

Adam and I were both fans of this kettle corn.

Chinese take-out leftovers – sesame noodles and fried tofu.

Wednesday Adam and I both worked exceptionally long days and we salvaged the evening with a cocktail walk and an agressive amount of Mighty Quinn take-out. The leftovers made a great lunch. Burnt end fries, corn fritters, and mac and cheese fritters.

Homemade soup. Chicken, broth, tomato paste, urfa chili paste, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, and zucchini.

Sheet pan hash. Japanese sweet potato, zucchini, fennel bulb, sweet onion, chicken kale pesto sausage, sharp cheddar, and pesto.

31Jul2022

Eat Nice

by Emily

Some things from the weekend…

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with maple, chia, praline pecan granola, and chopped aprium.

10/10 loved this new flavor from Over Easy.

On the other hand, this is a reminder for myself to stop buying this Oreo coffee because I do not like it. It tastes like a watery Oreo with no coffee whatsoever.

This Whole Foods almond milk ice cream was pretty good but not as good as non-vegan ice cream.

A breakfast bowl cheese fry situation. Trader Joe’s seasoned fries with mozarella, soft-scrambled eggs, roasted zucchini, and chicken breakfast sausage.

Chinese take-out!

So much Chinese take-out. Bok choy and mushrooms, fried tofu, sesame noodles, and a cheeseburger egg roll.

29Jul2022

Mostly Bowls

by Emily

Highlights from the past week include…

Dark roast coffee with ube condensed milk.

A loaded yogurt bowl – plain Greek, Mid-day peanut butter chocolate square, doughnut peach, aprium, praline pecan granola.

Cosmic Crisps are my new favorite apple.

We did not enjoy this key lime sour, but I am posting a photo as a reminder to Adam and myself because it so seems like something we would like.

On the other hand, we loved the flavor profile and political stance of this Greenpoint IPA.

Typically I don’t buy vegan ice creams but these bites are pretty satisfying.

Our favorite sheetpan hash – roasted Japanese sweet potato, bok choy, and green onion; topped with smoked salmon candy and roasted Norwegian salmon. I also added tons of Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.

Big summer salads. Local lettuce, honey mustard dressing, baby tomatoes, roasted corn, baked tofu, and homemade croutons.

Best bowl of the week – sauteed cabbage, snap peas, baby tomato, and green onions, with chicken maple breakfast sausage, peanuts, Korean chili flake, Sichuan pepper salt, and a nuoc cham inspired sauce.

Tons of Roast take-out – chicken taco sandwich, fries, buffalo-style roasted potatoes – plus roasted purple cauliflower.

25Jul2022

A Few Of My Favorite Things

by Emily

My birthday was yesterday and Adam and I were both off Saturday and Sunday which meant I got to celebrate a birthday weekend! We tried to do/eat all of my favorite things which meant we spent a ton of time walking around the city and ate a metric-ton of sugar and caffeine. It was perfect!

We did almost all of my favorite things, including – a birthday morning run, time with Adam and Webster, a long city walk, a bridge walk, drinks at Evil Twin, and watching The Office (I only missed walking on a beach and having a drink in the ocean).

And we ate almost all of my favorie things, including – coffee, vodka, Diet Coke, Roast sandwiches, cheeseburgers, ice cream, sprinkles, halo halo, and brigadero (I only missed nachos and roasted green beans)!

Highlights included…

In addition to my free birthday Starbucks I had my two current favorite city coffees – a quad iced latte from Kodawari.

And a freddo cappuccino from The Grand.

Plus a homemade dalgona iced latte!

Homemade rose lemonade spritzers with vodka.

I bought all of the birthday-flavored frozen things.

Plus ice cream for Webster!

Brigadero Bakery. Their summer special vanilla was tie-dyed and my favorite thing I ate all weekend.

Roast take-out, fries and a roast beef sandwich.

A trip to Queens Night Market. I had stir-fried radish cakes.

And halo halo.

Brunch at Nowon. Milky Way cocktail – mezcal, cold brew, Cadamaro, and rum-condensed milk.

My favorite cheeseburger – double smashed patties, American cheese, kimchi mayo, bread and butter pickles. Plus ridiculously amazing honey butter tots.

22Jul2022

Tres Leches Latte

by Emily

Such a good week of meals! Highlights include…

Coconut tres leches iced latte! Espresso with a blend of coconut milk, condensed milk, and half and half. I was making a rose coffee syup at the same time so I went ahead and dyed it pink!

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with chia seeds and strawberry jam, yellow peach, passionfruit, and praline granola.

My birthday is this weekend so these felt appropriate. We have loved every single thing we’ve tried from Made Good.

Boozy grape slushie – grape soda ice cubes blended with vodka. <– my best idea of the summer

A take on callaloo. Collard greens, turkey bacon, and crab meat cooked with coconut milk, onion, scotch bonnet pepper, ginger, and chili flakes.

Adam paired his with rice like an adult and I paired mine with pizza like a winner.

Creamy, spicy, peanut noodles. Ramen noodles + stir-fried cabbage and red bell pepper + a sauce with cream cheese, peanut butter, and gojuchang.

I gussied up store-bought marinara to make a delicious meat sauce – turkey bacon, ground turkey, onion, chili flake, urfa pepper, fish sauce, and tons of garlic. Served on Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocci with a side of garlic bok choy.

We also used meat sauce on homemade pizza. Plus sauteed broccoli with butter, chili flake, and garlic.

18Jul2022

Watermelon Pop Rocks

by Emily

This past week was a crazy grueling work-week for both Adam and me (obviously his schedule was immeasurably worse than mine) and we ended up eating a ton of take-out (and candy!). The homemade meals I did manage to cook came out wonderfully though. Highlights included…

I am having a love affair with summer fruits. Doughnut peach + green plucot. My stone fruit preference goes plucot > plum > nectarine > peach > apricot and sometimes I forget how wonderful peaches are.

My mom sent us Pop Rocks to eat on watermelon, which was a great idea! Somehow it extended the fizziness.

Mango and dark cherry smoothie with almond milk and Greek yogurt.

We are officially all-in on alcoholic seltzers. These were two of the best we’ve tried so far.

Take-out win shout-out: this insane fried chicken sandwich from Roast. On sourdough bread with ranch, hot honey, pickles, and cheddar. Plus I made spicy cucumber salad.

Our favorite chicken salad – shredded chicken breasts with slivered almonds, kimchi, mayo, and horseradish. Plus sauteed rainbow chard with green onion, chili flake, and garlic.

Curried chicken thighs (baked after a marinade in goat milk yogurt, evoo, Jamaican curry powder, salt, and ginger) with baked cauliflower and coconut beans and rice (brown rice cooked with coconut milk, black beans, yellow onion, and habanero pepper).

11Jul2022

Mellow

by Emily

Weekend highlights include…

A ridiculous coffee daily. This was phin-brew with espresso powder, caramel, and half and half. I also made an iced coffee with fluff(!) and had a great Oreo cold foam cold brew from Wired.

Strawberry cheesecake smoothie bowl! Plain Greek yogurt, almond milk, cream cheese, brown sugar, chia seeds, and frozen strawberries; topped with maple pecan granola.

Fluffernutter dessert smoothie. Plain Greek yogurt, almond milk, frozen banana, peanut butter, and toasted marshmallows.

P.S. This Fix and Fogg super crunchy is the best peanut butter I’ve ever tried.

Also, the Half Day green tea with honey and ginsing is the best canned tea I’ve ever tried.

So excited about summer fruits. Green plucot + a blood orange.

We ordered crystal candies from Silky Gem and were big fans. We actually tried to make these ourselves a few weeks ago and they did not work out. The crunchy outside and chewy/soft interior make a great contrast.

Hash leftovers with roast sauce.

I made jalopeno popper turkey meatloaf! It was amazing and Adam and I both went back for seconds. Ground turkey, panko bread crumbs, ketchup, diced pickled jalopenos, jalopeno juice, chopped white onion, egg, and diced sharp cheddar. With roasted orange and purple cauliflower on the side.